Can you repeat that?
by giraffezmd
Summary: Tony Stark is known as a genius, but he is also known for doing stupid things. What happens when Tony becomes deaf after a battle with the avengers? How will he tell Pepper, or will he even tell her? Will the rest of the team know about his new weakness, and how will this effect him in the long run? (Lots of Pepperony, mild Clintasha) - rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

* * *

She is going to kill me. She is going to worry. She is going to say that I was being stupid, which I was. I was being very dumb, but I was also being my usual self. The Avengers and I were on some stupid SHEILD mission that Fury sent us on. Birdbrain and Widow were breaking into some computers for some information while Brucy, Steve, Thor, and I were causing some big ass distraction.

All was join great until I decided to face one hundred people by myself. On a usual day, that would have been fine. On a day in which my armour was working perfectly, that would have been fine. But of course, my armour was not working perfectly. Just my freaking luck. JARVIS was working, but for some reason, my voice wasn't going through the mask, so I couldn't talk. I couldn't piss my enemies off to make them so blood thirsty that they were not cautious.

So I decided to take off my helmet and speak with them. I was halfway through my first sentence, when one of the enemies threw a bomb at my face. I was able to move my head away at the last second, but that didn't stop it from still hitting me. My shoulder took all of the impact and so as I threw my helmet back on, I killed all of them with one working armour arm. I didn't realise until after Bruce told me I wasn't injured by the bomb in my arm, and after I arrived at my California house that I share with Pepper, that I realised I can't hear anymore.

There was a lot of ringing when Bruce was checking me out, but now I hear nothing. Pepper is not going to be very happy with me. But I know she will want me to tell her. I take out a piece of paper and on it I write, _JARVIS: start new file. Labeled Iron Ears_. If I am correct, which I usually am. And i did indeed lose my hearing completely, than I need to find a way to fix it without too many people knowing.

I smile briefly, thanking my luck that Pepper is away on a business meeting and that I have the next three days off to try and make something that allows me to hear. Not only do I not want my team or the press to know, I also don't want SHEILD or my enemies to know. I do not want to have another weakness, because that is something that I can't deal with. I don't want Pepper to worry about me, so I just have to hope that I can create a working hearing aid before she returns in three days.

* * *

The next day, after I wake up, I realise how late it is. I open my mouth and say, "JARVIS why didn't you wake me up before four in the afternoon? We have a lot of work to do." But I don't hear anything that I just sigh. Then I remember what happened yesterday. My ears, the bomb, the new project I am officially starting today. Last night, before bed I had JARVIS download some new data.

Last night, I realised that I have three options. The first option is to create a pair of glasses in which JARVIS can see and hear out of and then connect them to a hearing aid so I can hear what he sees and hears. The second option is to create an attachable hearing aid, so I can just put it in my ear when I need it. If I make is strong enough and with JARVIS' help, I should be able to hear everything said. The third option was to just tell everyone that I can't hear shit.

I decided to chose option two since, option one would make me have to explain why I don't just wear contacts. The biggest issue with option two, is that I don't want to get surgery. That in of its self, makes this whole thing a hell of a lot more complicated. While JARVIS orders me two pizzas, I try to come up with an idea. In the end, I decide to create a new Mini BTE hearing aid (behind the ear). This way, I can take them off. (The hardest part of losing your hearing in both ears)

I spend the entire day creating the digital chip for the hearing aids, making sure that JARVIS can access it at all times. The only issue with this set up, is that JARVIS will be the only voice I actually hear, he will just translate everything for me. I spend the next day, creating a very, very small arc reactor so I don't need a battery in the hear aids. I don't sleep that night as I need to finish the hearing aids ASAP. When I do finish, I have JARVIS run some tests on them while I shower. After I finish my shower, I watch another video on how to read lips before putting in the new hearing aids.

"Check JARVIS, check." I mutter, surprised when this actually works.

"Does it work sir?" JARVIS asks and I grin.

"Yes it does. Now JARVIS just some ground rules."

"And what are those sir?" He asks.

"First off no mentioning this to anyone. Not SHEILD, not the Avengers, not Rhodes, and defiantly not Pepper."

"Why not sir?"

"Because that is an order, do not break it, or I will hurt you."

"Yes sir."

"Second off, anything that anyone says in the room you repeat to me in my head until I can update the devise enough to hear for myself. Third, you tell me when people arrive in a room, because I can't hear that ether. Four, you only repeat things into this ear piece, no one else hears it. Got it J?"

"Yes sir." My faithful AI tells me. I start drawing some more plans for updates when JARVIS alerts me, "Sir, Happy has just dropped Pepper at the front door. She seems stress about something."

What on Earth could be bothering her? I stand up and hide my update information before making my way up the stairs. When I reach the top of the stairs, I see Pepper glaring at me, clearly she was about to come downstairs. "Hello." I breath calmly, hugging my girlfriend to my side.

"What the hell Tony?" She asks, and I blink shocked.

"What did I do?" I ask.

"You didn't answer any of my phone calls. Bruce called after the mission and said that you have a bad bruise on your shoulder but other than that you are fine. So I decided to call the house on repeat to try and contact you. I must have left twenty messages, do you know how much you scared me?" A tear runs down her cheek and wets my shirt slightly.

"Sorry, I was REALLY tired and busy in the workshop. You know how loud my music is in the workshop, I didn't hear you call." I say, only half lying.

"Did JARVIS not tell you?" She questions.

"No. He didn't." I say, glaring at the ceiling.

"Sorry Sir." JARVIS says so Pepper too can hear it.

Pepper hugs me closer before heading off into the kitchen to make dinner for us. I smile, before following after her. I am happy that she now doesn't need to worry about me.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

* * *

It has been a week since Pepper has come home. I spend most of my time in the workshop, fixing my hearing aids. Pepper spends most of her hours at work. Thankfully SHEILD gave me a week off, otherwise I would not be able to pull this off. Thanks to JARVIS and youtube, I can now read lips almost perfectly. Jarvis has not been able to put people's voices into my head yet, but he has changed the tone of his voice to match for different people.

Currently, I am eating lunch when JARVIS says, "Sir, Director Fury is on the phone."

"Hook him up J." I mutter, sighing, I honestly can never have time off.

"Stark we need you." Fury says.

"What do you need Eye-Patch?" I ask.

"I need you to go and deal with three guys in Egypt. The are pointing nukes at the pyramids, we don't care or know why. We just need you to kill them." Fury says, ignoring my comment before hanging up. I sigh, usually I don't get kill missions, but I know that they are important when I do get them.

"Let's get this show on the road J." I say, suiting up. It takes thirty minutes at full speed to arrive at the Pyramids, it is spooky, not hearing the wind roaring against the helmet as I ride. But I know that the ear pieces still work since I have JARVIS babbling about some random shit the whole way. What he is saying is probably important, but I chose to ignore it.

When I land on the ground, weapons fire at me. These people are clearly not friends of SHEILD. I take out the first guy easily. The second and third guy, manage to catch me off guard for a second and it throws me backwards into the sand. My my hearing aids fall out, they are still in my helms but I can't put them back in my ears unless I take off the helmet. This means that I can't hear any warnings that JARVIS gives me. "DAMN IT" I yell into my helmet.

The second and third guy are out of my line of vision and I can't ask JARVIS for a scan and be able to understand it. I fly up into the air, and am able to spot the second guy, I take him out instantly. However, as I take him down, the third man appears behind me where I can't see him and throws a hand grenade. I feel myself fall through the sky and when I land I shoot him. I watch him fall, and I groan, why the hell does this always happen to me.

I put the hearing aids in my ear and manage to stand up. I am weak and I know it, but I am not going to a doctor. Doctors remind me of Yinsen, the man who helped me live and become Iron Man. The man who gave up his life for mine. "JARVIS auto fly me home now."

"Yes sir."

"Preform a scan JARVIS." I need to make sure that I can cover up my injuries before anyone sees me, mainly Pepper.

"Scan complete sir. You have three broke ribs, a sprained ankle, your shoulder is even more badly bruised than it was last week, and now any chance of you ever getting you hearing back is gone."

"Crap." I mutter, "Chances of me being able so stand?"

"I would not suggest standing for more than thirty seconds at a time sir."

"Crap." I say again, Pepper is going to kill me. "How far away from the house is Pepper?"

"Around twenty five minutes away."

"How far away are we?"

"At this pace, around twenty two minutes."

"Fully power into the thrusters J." I say.

I manage to get into the basement in twenty minutes. It takes two minutes to get out of the armour, which means I have three minutes to get upstairs and be fully healed. The moment I put pressure on my ankle, I cry out and fall. "J, how badly sprained is the ankle."

"Pretty badly sir."

"Shit." I drag myself over to a chair and hoist myself into the chair. I know I need to make adjustments to my hearing aids but with Pepper walking through the door any minute now, I decide to do it tomorrow. I have JARVIS pull up a mirror and I look over my face, trying to hide all visible injuries. It hurts to breath too deeply, so I breath lightly. I keep my ankle elevated under the work desk. I am wearing a tank top, so my bruise is showing, but Pepper already knew that I had a bruise there.

I look at my face an groan. I have a cut under my left eye which is making the skin around my eye swell up, I don't have enough time to cover it up ether. I just have to hope that Pepper doesn't notice. "Sir, Pepper has arrived."

I sigh, waiting for her to find me in the basement, I keep my back to her, working on part of the helmet of my suit which is all scratched up now. "Tony?" Pepper asks.

"Hey Pep." I say.

"Why are you still down here? We agreed to having a date night tonight and going to the nice restaurant downtown."

Crap, I completely forgot. I turn the right side of my face, "What time is the reservation?" I ask, maybe if I had enough time...

"Thirty minutes, we have to leave once your dressed, preferably within the next five minutes." Okay, that idea is out. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. But I forgot about my ribs and I wince. "Tony?" Pepper, she say me wince. Of course she did, she is so damn observant.

"Sir, Pepper is by your right shoulder." JARVIS says in my ear piece.

I turn to look at her and she gasps as she see my face, "Tony? What the heck happened?"

I sigh (causing me to wince yet again), no hiding this from her now. "SHEILD mission, just got back."

"Are you hurt?" I don't answer and she opens her mouth again, almost as if to ask JARVIS.

"Yes." I say, quickly, hoping that she does ask JARVIS for a scan.

"Where?" She asks.

I sigh, might as well tell the truth, "My ribs hurt, I sprained my ankle, and badly bruised my shoulder again."

"Can you walk?" She looks concerned and I sigh, I don't need her to be worried for me.

"No."

"JARVIS order take out and cancel the reservation. Also, set up the big television for a movie and send Happy to the store to get me some medical supplies, since I don't think Mr. Stark wants to see a doctor."

I look at Pepper, "What about our date?"

"I am not going by my self. Come on, put your arm around me and let's go watch a movie." She says, and I do as she says.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" I ask her.

"You told me the truth." She says, which just makes me feel guilty for not telling her about my ears. I will find a good time to tell her, but now is not one of those times.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

* * *

After around a month with out being able to hear, I have finally gotten used to it. I count fully on JARVIS. I make new modifications every day, and nobody has figured out about the fact that I cannot hear. And honestly, I don't want people to know. Bruce comes over once a week to use my lab, and I let him as long as he doesn't bother me.

Sometimes, when I am alone, I take out the hearing devise so I can work in silence. At boring board meetings, I just tell JARVIS not to tell me what they are saying unless they are asking me a question. We have three back-up pairs of Hearing-Aids made just in case I lose or break a pair. The only downside to that, is after an update, I have o update the other three pairs too which is boring and annoying. Usually I have Pepper do the boring and annoying stuff, or Bruce, but since nobody knows, it creates an issue.

I am more careful in battle, making sure that my ear pieces don't fall out. One day, I head to SHEILD in person because apparently they need to debrief us before our next big mission. I sit in a room with Thor (aka Point Break), Clint (aka Birdbrain), his girl friend Tasha (aka Natashalie), Steve (aka Capsicle), Bruce (aka the Jolly Green Giant or JGG for short), and Fury, or Director One-Eye.

"So you guys need to infiltrate an enemy base..." Fury says dragging on. I stop paying attention after the word 'so.' "STARK ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Fury yells at me.

I laugh and think, _No, that is an insult to the deaf asshole._ But I say, "Yes sir." I add in a salute for good measure too.

"You guys leave tomorrow, make sure you say good-bye to your family before you leave." Fury says before leaving the room.

"Honestly Stark, you better remember to tell Pepper, you remember what happened the last time you forgot?" Steve asks.

"He never tells Pepper." Clint says.

"I always end up telling her." Bruce complains.

"Not every time!" I argue.

"Name the last time you told her you were going on a dangerous mission that you might not return from." Tasha orders.

"This morning I told her I was going to get coffee. I could have been hit by a car on my way there."

Everyone groans and laugh, "Don't worry I will tell her this time." I mutter.

Of course, I don't remember until she is fast asleep on my chest later that night. Ugh, they were right again. Not that I am ever going to say that to their faces. "Pepper..." I breath into her hair, "Pepper..."

"Huh?" She asks, half sitting up.

"I forgot to tell you something."

"And what is that?" She asks. I am tempted to tell her everything, about my ears and the mission, but she probably wouldn't let me go on the mission if I told her about me ears.

"I have a mission tomorrow." I say quietly.

"I know."

"What do you mean you know?"

"Bruce and Steve told me before."

"Ugh, I told them I would do it."

"Well clearly you forgot." She mutters, "When do you leave?" I glance at the clock that reads 4:23 am.

"About two hours."

"And when will you return?"

"Once the mission is solved I guess." I mutter. Pepper sighs once, before exhaustion makes her pass out.

* * *

Pepper gets up with me. We share a goodbye kiss and then I suit up and say good bye. "I do not appreciate you guys telling my girl for me last night." I say, once I start to head towards our location to meet at.

"You actually remembered?" Steve asks.

"Yes Capsicle I did. Thanks for believing in me."

"But I didn't." Steve says.

"Sarcasm. Bruce, I think we need to make his a Sarcasm sign like in big bang theory. JARVIS make a note."

"Note taken sir." JARVIS responds.

When we arrive, the fight starts instantly. People talk so quickly, that it is hard for me to catch everything they are saying. However, I do catch Clint screaming, "Stark it is a trap!" However, I catch is a second too late. A large metal net wraps itself around me, keeping me metal starts squeezing and making my suit come in on me. I need to get out of the suit if I want to survive, but then I have no protection.

"Come out of the suit and hand your self over, or died in the suit." A voice says, but JARVIS doesn't tell me who it is.

I wince in the suit, as it also now starts to over heat."JARVIS release me, once I am out of the view, blow the suit."

"I will do as you say sir. Please be cautious." JARVIS responds. He knows I will not listen to my team members right now, so he doesn't even play what they are saying.

I get out of the suit and fall to the ground, badly falling on my right leg. I groan as I push myself off the ground. Two men dressed in black take my arms and force them behind my back before they force me to walk (well limp since my leg feels like it is on fire right now) forward until I black out. I don't even realise that as I am walking, one go my ear pieces falls into the sand and disappears forever.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Pepper Pots:**

* * *

I never sleep when Tony is away on his missions. I got basically no sleep last night since Tony woke me up, and tonight I sit in our bed wearing one of his shirts after a full day of work, doing nothing but worrying. Tony knows that him being away or hurt worries me and I know that this is part of the reason why he doesn't tell me things. That and also because he thinks it shows weakness.

Honestly, if Steve and Bruce didn't tell me everything that happened, I would probably be even more worried. Usually, Tony calls during his flight there and back, to assure me that he is alive, but all of today he hasn't so much as sent a text to me. I know that he is busy and that I REALLY shouldn't worry since he has the other Avengers to keep him in check, and he has JARVIS.

"Hey JARVIS?" I ask.

"Yes Miss. Pots?"

"Where is Tony?" I ask.

"Mr. Stark has told me not to inform you of his location in fear that you would do something risky, I am sorry." I sigh, well it was worth a shot.

Around two hours later, JARVIS says, "Ms. Potts, incoming call."

"Who from?" I ask.

"SHEILD." JARVIS says and I feel my stomach drop into my stomach, if SHEILD is calling the house at this hour, there can't be good news.

"Accept the call J." I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Can you do us a favour and turn down the security so we can enter your house? We need to get into our house as soon as possible." Nick Fury says over the phone.

"Yeah sure, JARVIS you heard him." I say, pulling on a pair of fuzzy pants and some blue bunny slippers. I then walk downstairs and let the three people into the house. Steve, Bruce, and Fury.

Bruce holds a bag and none of them seem too happy to be here. "We have some bad new Pepper." Steve starts.

"No." I mutter quietly, before sitting onto the couch weakly.

"He is not confirmed to be dead." Bruce says, and that makes me feel slightly better.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"That is the issue, they took him, so we don't know where he is."

"That is almost worse." I breath, "Last time they practically drilled a car battery into his chest, what are they going to do this time?"

"We will get him back Pepper." Steve says.

"This is what was left of the suit after Stark purposely blew it up." Fury says, gesturing to the bag that Bruce is holding.

"He did it so they couldn't use his own invention to hurt anyone." Bruce says. I open the bag only to find a mangled and distorted part of his helmet.

I fall off the couch and onto my knees, "Tony." I breath quietly before pressing my lips to his helmet.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Tony Stark:**

* * *

I wake up alone in a cell. I glance down at my ankle only to see that it is three times it's normal size. There is no way it isn't broken. The pain is horrible too. My head hurts, badly and my arms are painfully ties behind my back. My non broken leg is shackled to a wall, because I was totally going to be able to move after my leg. What is Pepper going to say when she sees this. Shit Pepper, I didn't tell her I how dangerous this mission was. Whoops.

I see the door open, but I only hear it with my left ear. Did my right ear piece fall out? I trust have. I sigh, this is going to make things so much harder. The room is light so I can't see who is standing in front of me. the man un shackles my good foot and forces me to stand, I practically pass out from the pain my my ankle. "Walk." I hear by my left ear. I don't walk, but I hop, when I get to the room the man wants me to be in, he blindfolds me and puts me into a chair.

I feel my hands being tied tighter behind my back. When they blindfold it taken off, I am practically blinded by the bright light in the room. But then I am able to see who has kidnapped me. "Hammer." I spit out.

"Hello again Anthony." He says in his slow annoying as hell voice.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Well only you and Ivan know how to make the suits, and I need one. So you are going to make me one, or you are going to die."

"You are going to kill me anyways." I say, knowing the truth. Hammer escaped from prison two years ago and he has been trying to kill me since, I never thought he would have the guts to actually kidnap me though.

"Are you going to build the suit or not? I could always find Pepper and bring her here." He hears the way my breaths stops and grins like the wicked son of a bitch that he is.

"You touch her, you die." I spit.

"Not if you can't do anything about it. How about I let you sleep on our offer?" He asks, before sending one of his buffoons into the room to hit me on the side of my head with a metal baseball bat.

* * *

I wake up with blood on the side of my face. An idea comes to me, "JARVIS." I say as quietly as I can, "I only have the left ear still right?"

"I am afraid so sir." JARVIS responds.

"J, can you send SHEILD my coords and tell them to keep Pepper at their base until the threat dies down?"

"Yes sir." JARVIS says and three minutes later he says, "Completed."

"Thanks J." I say, even if I die, I need Pepper to be safe. "Alert me when Pepper has been moved and when the Avengers are on their way." I say.

"Will do sir."

A couple of hours later, Hammer sends three men in to drag me (which hurts both my bruised shoulder and my leg like hell) into the white room again. "J," I say under my breath. "Where is Pep. Please tell me that she is at SHEILD."

"Have you thought about my offer?" Hammer asks.

"I have." I say, trying to stall. I just need to know that Pepper is safe before I do the rest of my plan.

"And what have you decided?"

"I have decided." I pause for dramatic effect, and because I need to know.

"Seve Rogers has just gotten into the car and mad Happy Hogan start to drive to SHEILD headquarters now sir. She does't understand why, but Steve told her he would explain."

"Thanks." I say, meaning it for JARVIS but I manage to tie it into my answer for Hammer, "But no thanks."

Hammer groans and says, "Are you sure that it wise?"

"I graduated from MIT before you even knew what a hammer was." I spit, "Of course I am sure."

"Convince him otherwise boys." Hammer says, before leaving the room.

I am forces onto my knees as one of the men takes out a whip. I am not an idiot, I know what these men are going to do. I try to brace myself for the pain, but I was no expecting it to hurt nearly as much as it did. I don't cry out, but I do feel the blood as is starts to pool. I lose count after about fifteen whips. "The Avengers are debriefing now sir. If they keep moving at this pace, they will be here tomorrow after noon."

"What time is it now J?" I ask.

"Five twenty at night." JARVIS replies. That is the last thing I hear before I pass out from the pain.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Steve Rogers:**

* * *

Getting Pepper to SHEILD wasn't too hard, what was hard was explaining why she was there. She knew that Tony was missing, but she asked the one question we didn't know the answer to, "How was Tony able to tell u where he was and how was he able to access JARVIS?"

It honestly is my fault that Stark was taken. I should have been paying more attention, I should have warned him. But like Pepper said, "what is done is done. We just need to get him back as soon as possible." So soon after Pepper was filled in on what was going on, the Avengers and I heard to where Starks' coords lead us. We left at six the morning after we got the message from JARVIS.

We arrive at the base, no knowing who we are going to face. "I am assuming that the coords lead to Tony's actual cell, so be ready for battle." Natasha says and we all agree. It is odd not having Tony making a Sarcastic comment after she said that. We head down cautiously, but we surprisingly don't run into anything. When we arrive at the coords we are shocked to see an incredibly injured Tony staring back at us.

"It is about time you guys got here." He says as Clint starts to pick the lock. Bruce and I just stare opened mouth at Tony. He has a blooded bruise on the side of his face, an incredibly ripped tank top (the shirt was white before he came here but now it is the colour of his blood), a badly broken ankle, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in days.

"Let's get you out of here Man of Iron." Thor says, trying to keep his booming voice quiet. Tony leans all of his weight on Thor so that his foot isn't touching the ground.

"Sure Thor what ever." Tony says and I exchange a glance with Bruce. If Tony can't even joke around, then something is wrong. "Just no hospitals or doctor's offices."

"Tony-" Bruce argues.

"No, you are taking me to my house in California where you, Bruce, will be able to heal me with what ever medical supplies you need, you can have JARVIS run skins as you wish on me and I have most doctor equipment in the lap, but it all works. You will not take me to SHIELD for medical attention and you will not take me to a hospital."

"Anything else Tony?" I ask, not bothering to argue with him.

"Yes. I want to see Pepper when I get home, but that means I need one of you making sure that she doesn't get kidnapped since I can't defend her.

"I will do that." Tasha says.

We all nod, and bring Tony to his house like he asked. While Bruce darts on the medical stuff, I head to SHEILD with Tasha to pick up Pepper.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Tony Stark**

* * *

When I wake up, I am in the bed that I share wit Pepper. My ankle that i could have sworn was broken is in a cast. The cast is red and gold and I grin, these people know me pretty well. I can feel the bandages only my back, and on my face by my ear that I lost the eating aid for. My whole body is swore and I am very tired still. I glance around the room and see Pepper fast asleep in a chair by the bed. Her face is pressed into the bed and she looks like she was crying before. No one else is in the room, _wow guys ranks for keeping your promise of Pepper being safe._ I think.

I lift my right hand weakly. It shakes but I am able to bring it by Pepper's face. I touch it lightly and she wakes up immediately. "Tony." she breaths.

"Hey Pep." I say, but my voice is weak and cracks in odd places.

"You are alive. They weren't one hundred percent sure you were going to wake up." Her voice cracks at the end, and she looks like she is about to cry.

"But I'm fine Pepper. And I will heal from everything over time." I mutter but then to myself I think, _well not everything._

 _"_ You beter." She says, "And may I ask why you were so stupid and noble to almost get yourself killed?"

I run my tongue over my dry lips as I think of a response that she won't yell at me for. "I was the only one over there."

"You could have asked for back-up."

"It was a trap and we didn't know." I say.

Pepper nods, clearly this was the response she was looking for. She smiles at me before saying, "I know you are tired, I will be here when you wake up." I nod and fly back asleep easily

* * *

When I wake up the next time, the bandages on my face are off. Pepper isn't actually in the room, Bruce is. "I wanted to talk to you about something Tony. Alone." He says, and I realise what it is instantly and pale.

"Alright Mr. Jolly Green. What is up?" I ask.

"While I was running some tests the one thing JARVIS never talked about was your ears. Not even the bloodied mess by your ears. I found that a little suspicious. So I simply banged up the side of your face that was bloody and thought that JARVIS possibly wasn't programmed correctly."

He pauses, waiting for me to say something, but when I don't he continues.

"But then yesterday, Clint cut himself while we where training and JARVIS told me instantly, and the injury wasn't nearly as bad as yours. So I went to the lab to look for some answers there. And I found a project that came of interest." He says, holding up a pair of hearing aids. "So I asked JARVIS about them and he said that he wasn't allowed to respond. So I came up here and personally checked your ears to see that you were wearing one."

"Give me one." I mutter, Bruce slowly agrees and hands me one. I put it in the ear that the hearing aid fell out of. "That is better."

"So you are deaf?" He asks.

"Sh. But yes." I look at my casted leg instead of his eyes.

"How long? Since Afghanistan? Since New York?"

"No."

"It had to have been before we became friends, I would have noticed otherwise."

I grin and say, "No."

"When was it then?" He asks.

"When the grenade went off in my face a couple of months ago."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How did I not notice?"

"No one did."

"Does Pepper no."

I take a deep breath before saying, "No."

"Do you plan on telling her?"

"In time. I am waiting for the right moment."

"Do you want me to tell her?"

"NO! Listen Bruce, this stays between the two of us, or I will never let you into the labs again. Got it?"

"Yes Tony."

I nod. "Can you send Pepper in? I want to see her face so I don't freaking punch a hole through your face."

"Are you going to tell her now?"

"No. I will tell her when the time is right. She is already worrying enough about me."

"Fine. I will go and get her."

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Pepper Pots:**

* * *

Bruce had gone into the room to talk to Tony about something that SHEILD had asked him. I didn't fully believe him when me made that excuse, but I let him into the room while I made myself lunch and ate it. When I was done, I walked over to the bedroom door only realise that they are talking inside. I hate to snoop but I wasn't able to stop my self.

"This stays between the two of us, or I will never let you into the labs again. Got it?" Tony says. What is Tony hiding. If it was life or death I know that Bruce would tell me. Wouldn't he?

"Yes Tony." Bruce replies.

"Can you send Pepper in? I want to see her face so I don't freaking punch a hole through your face."

"Are you going to tell her now?" So Tony is hiding something from me, but what?

"No. I will tell her when the time is right. She is already worrying enough about me." He isn't wrong, I am worried about him. I just have to hope that he will tell me sooner rather than later.

"Fine. I will go and get her." I rush quietly away from the door so no one knows that I was listening in. I pour my self a cup of coffee just as Bruce walks into the room.

"He is awake and wants to see you." Bruce says, clearly he is thinking hard about something.

I walk into the bed room and sit in the usual chair. "Hey Pep." He says.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" I ask, forgetting that I wasn't supposed to know.

Tony curses for a bit under his breath before saying, "Yes."

"What is it?"

"As I was telling Bruce before, I think..." He trails off.

"You think..." I hint.

"That I am still deeply in love with you." I smile when he says that. It isn't like Tony to have some deep romantic saying.

"I think I still am too." I mutter. "By the way, Bruce said that soon the only real injury that you will have is the scares on your back and a broken ankle."

"Meaning..." He asks, not getting it fully.

"Meaning, I can kiss you without worrying about hurting you." I hint, and he grasps what I am saying and grins.

"You worry too much. I am Iron Man I don't feel much pain."

"You are the man part of the sentence, JARVIS is the Iron."

Tony groans when I say that and I laugh, knowing he hates me for it. "You are mean." He says, and I kiss him lightly on the lips to shut him up before I pull away. Sure, I do want to kiss him more, but he is hurt and I need to control myself.

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" I ask.

"Don't leave me, Miss. Potts. Other than that, yes that is all." He says, before falling back asleep.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Tony Stark:**

* * *

A month after my close call with Pepper, I sit in my bed with Pepper fast asleep on my chest. I was laying down but I changed positions around twenty minutes ago. Pepper has been sick for the past four days. She was able to work fine the first two, and I begged her to stay home yesterday but she refused. Today though, I forced her to stay home. She was running a very high fever, but I didn't mind if she got me sick. I just wanted to know that she was safe.

My leg is still in a cast, but other than that and my ears, I am fully healed. Pepper's check is pressed into my Arc Reactor. I look at my clock to see that it is a little after eleven pm. Pepper stayed in bed all day, and I only left to get her water and take-out. My laptop is on my lap and I try to think of updates to do for my ear pieces. Bruce is now helping me, which I guess is an upside to him helping me.

He also learned sign language with me, so we would be able to communicate if both of us got captured together and I lost my ear pieces. "Sir, incoming call from SHEILD." JARVIS tells me, making sure not to wake Pepper by only playing it through my ear pieces.

"Hello." I growl, letting who ever is on the line know that I REALLY don't want to be bothered right now.

"We know that Pepper doesn't want you fighting yet, but we need you Stark." Fury says.

"What exactly do you need me for? Because Pepper is sick and I am not leaving her alone."

"Leave her with Hogan."

"What do you need me for Eye-Patch?"

"You and Widow need to go to where you were kidnapped and find out some information."

"Why can't her bird friend go with her?"

"Clint doesn't know the place well since he wasn't kidnapped there."

"Fine. When do you need me to leave?"

"Nine o'clock today."

"Fine." I say again. But I say it so aggressively that Pepper stirs at the sound of my voice. Well, shit.

"Were you talking to someone?" She asks, only half awake. Her skin is still very feverish.

"Yes." I answer.

"Who?"

"Director Wanna-Be-Pirate."

Pepper is now awake. "Why did he call?"

"He needs me to go on a mission."

"No." Pepper says, but it doesn't sound like an order, it sounds more like a helpless plea.

"He needs me to go back to Hammer's place with Natashalie to find out some information.

"No." She says again.

"I am sorry, but it is my job." I say, the way she usually does.

"I don't want you to go." She mutters, wrapping her weak sick arms around me.

"Now you know, that is what I tell you every day."

"But I am not going off to get myself killed."

"Valid point."

"If you want, I could probably drop you off at SHEILD and you could get all of the Stats on me while I'm gone as it happens."

She just simply nods into my chest. I hug her tighter and say, "I am not leaving until nine tomorrow. We have time. Sleep." She nods again and hugging me tighter, she falls back asleep.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 -** **Natalia Romanova:**

* * *

Stark and I don't talk much while we are heading to Hammer's new hideout. When we are sneaking through the base I think quietly to my self while Tony flies silently above me. When the ceiling gets too low, he crashes with a clang. "Be quiet Stark." I hiss at him, and the suit nods.

I take the lead. Stark waits a minute or two before following after me. His suit goes, _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

"Could you try and maybe be quiet?"

"Sure." Stark says, with no sarcasm in his voice. However, that isn't saying much since his suit doesn't have Tony's sarcastic voice.

"Is there something that you aren't telling me Stark?" I ask him. Clint and I have barely seen Tony in the past couple of months since SHEILD has been sending us on so many missions. The normal amount of missions for us plus the missions that Stark has been needed on.

He doesn't say anything, so I just keep walking.

 _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

"Do you not hear all the freaking noise that you are making? You will draw all of them to us."

"Sorry." He says, and we keep on walking.

 _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

I try to ignore it, and keep on moving.

 _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

He is REALLY starting to test my patience.

 _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

I am honestly surprised that no one has been drawn to us by this noise yet.

 _CLANG CLANG CLANG._

That is when an army of fifty comes. "I'll deal with them." Stark says, "Finish the mission."

"You better." I mutter under my breath before running around the corner to the computer room. I am able to download all of the files that Fury asked me to get onto my flash drive. It takes about five minutes, and when it is done, I walk out of the room to find Stark waiting for me. We walk out side and he takes off his helmet to allow him self a breath of air.

"YOU IDIOT!" I yell at him, slapping his face hard enough to leave a red mark that will defiantly turn into a bruise.

"What did I do?" He asks, like to stupid person he is.

"You made enough noise to almost jeopardise the entire mission."

"I did?"

"ARE YOU DEAF?" I yell at him? He turns pale at the question and I continue, "Because, never in my life have i ever seen someone make so much noise on a mission. NEVER!"

"Yes." He says so quietly that I don't hear him.

I am about to continue yelling when i say, "What?"

"I am deaf." He says a little louder.

"How many people know? How could I have not seen it?" I am one of the most observant people that I know, yet I couldn't point out the symbols.

"Bruce. And now you."

"So not Pepper?"

"Not Pepper."

"You need to tell her."

"I know, I will when the time is right. Just promise me that you won't tell anyone?"

"Fine Stark. Now explain how you are able to do this without people noticing. Especially me, Clint, and Pepper."

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Tony Stark:**

* * *

So now two people know about my hearing, but not Pepper. I decided that it was finally time to give up the act and let her know. As much as I don't want her to know, I don't want Pepper to be mad at me even more. I am pretty sure that Natashalie told her bird-freind but i'm not one hundred percent sure. I don't know how I am going to tell Pepper that I lost my hearing, but I was able to schedule a vacation for us this weekend. I will probably tell her then.

I take out my hearing aids to add an update to them. I honestly, kind of sometimes enjoy not having to listen to anything else going on in the room. I sit crouched over my hearing aids for a good couple of hours before I decide to go and get lunch. I walk upstairs only to find Bruce trying to come downstairs.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"We have been trying to contact you all day, where have you been?" He asks, and I read his lips to know what he is saying.

"I was in the basement." I respond, "Working on an update. I'm not done with it yet."

"Okay." Bruce says, before walking out of my house.

I grab a Pepsi and a chocolate bar before heading back down to the basement and continuing to work. I am allowing JARVIS to test the hearing aids when I feel a hand on my right shoulder. I jump a little bit before I turn, shocked to see Pepper standing behind me in her business suit. She whispers something into my ear that I don't hear, so I just turn to face her and ask her to repeat it.

I watch her lips as she speaks. "Busy working?"

I simply nod before saying, "What are you doing home so early?"

"It isn't early, I am actually late. You must have been working hard to ignore that. I even called the house a couple of times to let you know that I would be staying late, but you never picked up. I got a little worried so I sent Bruce over. He said you were just busy."

"I was."

"Do you want to tell me what you are working on?"

 _No, I don't because I don't want you to worry about me._ I think. But the way she looks at me, I should not be keeping secrets from the woman I love so much. "I guess so." I say. I walk over to where JARVIS was testing the ear piece, I know that Pepper is following me, even if I can't see her. I am about to show her when suddenly Pepper stops me and says, "Are you going to answer SHEILD?"

I nod and say, "JARVIS accept."

I watch Pepper's face as who ever is on the phone talks Pepper, nods before saying, "He will be right there. Bye."

"Where will I be?" I ask.

"Do you ever pay attention?"

"I think you know the answer to that question."

"You have been assigned a mission with Steve and Bruce, just do me a favour and be careful?"

"Careful is my middle name." I mutter sarcastically, wrapping my arms around her, but still looking at he face so i could read her lips.

"No, your middle name is Edward." I press my lips to hers before, I grab the hearing aids and go to suit up. Maybe next time I can tell her. Maybe this weekend.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Steve Rogers:**

* * *

The moment we land, I know that something is wrong with Stark's suit. He is hitting the left side of his head with his arm, "Stark is something wrong?" I ask.

Bruce turns and see the issue before saying, "You need help Tony?"

"It fell out when I was flying I think. I REALLY need to fix this." Is all Tony says.

"What the heck fell out?" I ask.

"Did you just curse Capsicle?" Stark responds.

"No. heck is a substitute."

Tony laughs, "Combine the works hell and fuck and what do you get Cap?"

"Heck." Bruce says, laughing and shaking his head. Before turning back to Tony and asking, "Which one Tony?"

"Left."

"Is it in the suit?"

"Is what in the suit?" I ask. The ignore me and keep on going at it.

"I don't know."

"How could you not know? Ask JARVIS."

"Left is for the suit's talking, right is for people."

"Well shit." Bruce says, "Can you step out of the suit?"

"It isn't safe." Tony mutters, "As much as I would prefer it, we need to get moving. I will be fine, we will figure it out when we get back to the lab."

"Have you told Pepper yet?"

"Told Pepper what?" I ask.

"No." Tony said ignoring me, "I was planning on telling her this weekend. I cancelled everything for both of us this weekend so we could have some time alone together. I plan on telling her then."

"Good idea."

"TELL PEPPER WHAT?" I yell at them. I am not in Tony's eyesight and still doesn't seem to hear my properly, but Bruce jumps a little bit.

"Can I tell him Tony?" Bruce asks, turning back to face him.

"As long as he doesn't tell anyone." Tony says, sounding even throughout the suit like he is giving up.

"Tony is deaf." Bruce says.

"What?" I ask, shock crossing through my veins.

"I will explain, and then we will complete this mission. Okay Stark?" He says, completely facing him as he talks.

Tony nods and Bruce launches himself into the story.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Tony Stark:**

* * *

After Bruce explains to Steve (I only hear half of what he says) we complete the mission for Fury before flying home. I close my eyes on the way back, enjoying the quiet. This is a luxury that I don't usually have when I am flying in my suit. It took around three hours to arrive at our destination, so on the way back I take a brief nap, exhausted. When I open my eyes, I see that I am flying over a forest on the way home, I don't exactly know where I am, but I know I am in the right direction since JARVIS is on autopilot.

I glance at the screen in front of me only to see something that JARVIS would have warned me if my right ear piece was set up to my suit. The suit read: _POWER at 1%._ No sooner do I read that, then do I start falling to the ground. "JARVIS, back-up energy." I practically shout, whiting I just got on the SHEILD jet with Steve and Bruce, but I wanted to get home sooner than they would have. So i took my suit.

JARVIS manages to not have me die when I crash, but I still crash, and badly. "Take me out of the suit, it is the only hope I have." I mutter to JARVIS, feeling some intense pain in my only recently fully healed ankle. It is defiantly injured it again, I just don't know if it is as bad or worse. Once I am out of the suit, I manage to drag my self to the lake that is close to where I landed.

I glance in my reflection to see blood running down my face. In desperation to clean my face, I dip my face into the water. Too late to I realise how stupid that was. Only when my hearing aid falls to the bottom of the lake and I am left completely stranded in deaf in the middle of the woods in who the hell knows where do I realise that I am royally fucked.

"Well shit." I say, even though I can't hear it. I drag my self over to my suit and put on the helmet. I try to say, "Send location." But I am not sure if that is actually what I said. I then pass out.

* * *

I wake up to a shaking feeling in the ground. I flinch away from the ground, only to land painfully on my leg. I feel myself cry out. I scan the area and find a man and a younger kid, someone who must be his son running over, both of them hold hunting weapons. I am not sure if it is legal or not in this area. I look at the man's face and read his lips as he says, "Sir, are you okay?"

"Where am I?"

"Colorando State Park." The little boy says.

I nod, shit, I am screwed. "How did you end up here?" The man asks.

"I crashed." I try to say, pointing to the broken suit. Their eyes widen as they realise who I am.

"How long have you been here?" The man asks.

"I don't know. I just woke up. What is today's date?" The man mouths the dad to me and I pale, "Depending on when I fell, ether two or three days."

"You need medical attention. Come on, we will bring you to a hospital."

"Thank you." I say, for what must be the first time in my life. But I am in so much pain that I would say it over and over again. "Also, I don't have my phone on me. But can you try and contact my girlfriend? You just need to call Stark Industries and ask to talk to Virginia Potts."

"Sure." The man says. I sigh, I hope Pepper gets contacted soon, because she must me worried out of her mind right now.

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Pepper Pots (the day that Tony** **crashed):**

* * *

I sat on the couch watching a movie and waiting for Tony to come home. I ordered an extra two pizzas just for him and I am waiting for him to come home so we can eat dinner together. I hear a knock on the door and go to get it, it must be the pizza guy. I open the door only to see Bruce and Steve standing in the door.

"Where is Tony?" I ask.

"He isn't here?" Steve asks.

"He is faster than us, he should have arrived home hours ago." Bruce.

"He wasn't answering any of my phone calls so I was assuming he was still fighting with you guys." I say, feeling a little weak in the knees.

"JARVIS contact Stark." Steve says, before saying, "Wait never mind, he wouldn't get it anyways."

"What do you mean he wouldn't get it anyways?" I ask, and Bruce shoots Steve a dark look.

"Nothing." Steve says quickly looks away.

"JARVIS, what isn't Steve telling me?" I say, quickly.

"Sir has authorised me not to tell you. I am sorry Miss. Pots." JARVIS says and I growl under my breath.

"What is Tony hiding from me?" I ask Bruce and Steve.

"He said he is going to tell you this weekend." Bruce says.

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"No." They both say together, "We promised him."

"But what if what he is hiding from me is why he isn't home?" I ask them, worry creeping its way into my voice. That must have bee what Tony was trying to tell me before SHEILD called, to get him to go on a mission.

"That wouldn't-" Steve starts.

But he is caught off by Bruce who says a curse that Pepper had never heard come out of his mouth. "JARVIS track Tony's suit now. And tell everything surrounding it."

"The suit is off. I cannot do that, I am sorry Dr. Banner." JARVIS says and the three of us all pale. "The last I read of the suit was when Mr. Stark was flying in Colorado and the suit lost power." The AI continues.

The three of us all say things at the same time. "When?" Bruce asks.

"Do you mean he fell out of the sky?" Steve asks.

"Why didn't you warn him JARVIS?" I ask him.

"Around six hours ago Dr. Yes he did fall, I was able to fusion his fall a bit, but the suit is useless now and Mr. Stark is out of the suit. As for your question Pepper, I am restricted from telling you."

"Can someone please tell me?" I ask, very aware that my voice is shaking.

Bruce and Steve exchange a glance. "You should probably sit down for this story." Steve says after a bit.

* * *

 **(Present time)**

Tony is deaf. I can't believe he didn't tell me. Of course, I understand that he was scared, but I am kind of pissed that he didn't tell me. I could have helped him. A couple of tears fell as they explained that the reason Tony didn't know about the suit losing power is that he lost on of his hearing aids. Bruce had gone to get one of the spare pairs to show me, and I realised that this was exactly what Tony was about to show me before he flew off and crashed.

We have no idea where he is, but Fury is sending agents to go and search. We didn't alert Fury about Tony's hearing loss though. I am defiantly going to talk to Tony soon in the future. About hiding this from me, and about how we are going to move forward. All of those missed phone calls weren't because he was ignoring me or drunk, it was simply because he honest to god didn't hear them.

"Miss. Potts, someone from Stark Industries has alerted me that an unknown number is trying to contact you." JARVIS says.

"Does it seem to be a risk?"

"No. According to the man he knows where Mr. Stark is."

Steve and Bruce look up. "Direct it to my cellphone JARVIS." I tell him, taking out my phone as I talk.

When the phone starts ringing. I press accept quickly, hoping that Tony is actually on the other end. "Is this Miss. Virginia Pots?" A male voice asks on the other end of the line.

"Yes." I breath, "Who is this?"

"My name is Albert Hogan."

"Hogan?" I ask.

"Yes, my brother works for Mr. Stark."

"Why are you calling Mr. Hogan?" I ask, nervous.

"My son and I were hunting in the woods when we came upon Mr. Stark unable to stand up. I brought him to a nearby hospital, but he told me to call you as soon as I could. I am in the emergency waiting room, just incase they need me to pass any information along."

I feel my heart start to beat faster, Tony hates hospitals , but this man did the right thing. "How many hours ago was this?" I ask.

"Around five, I am sorry but I dropped my son at home and forgot to call you until now. Well try and call you anyways, it tok a long time before I could reach you too."

"It is fine." I say, "Is he alive."

"As far as I know, yes."

"Where exactly are you?" I ask. Albert tells me the name of the hospital and I nod, "I will be there as soon as I can. Thank you Mr. Hogan."

"No problem." He says before hanging up.

"Where are we going?" Dr. Banner asks, grabbing the keys to the car.

"Colorado."

* * *

 **REVIEW?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Tony Stark:**

* * *

I wake up in a hospital bed. I see that I am hooked up to a machine to help me breath, my injured leg is casted all the way up to my knee, I see stitches on my left arm (I didn't even know I was hurt there), and I don't have my hearing aids in. I can't hear the beating of my heart, the heart machine I am hooked up to, or the breathing machine. The hospital room is just an eerie silence.

I glance around the room, and see that I am not alone. Pepper looks out the window of the room. She wears something that I have never seen her wear in a public place. Pepper wears a pair of sweatpants and my ACDC t-shirt. She wears a pair of sneakers and her hair is still brushed and perfect. I try to reach my hand out to her, but pain goes through my arm. I feel myself cry out, but I don't hear it.

Pepper turns to face me. Her face is paler than usual, her eyes have dark rings under them, and her eyes are slightly red. She walks over to my side and says something that I can't hear. She repeats it, but I am way to lazy to read her lips. I close my eyes and try to whisper her name, however I honestly have no idea how loud I actually said it. Her hand brushes the cheek that wasn't cut open from my fall and I open my eyes to see her face in front of me.

She brushes her lips on mine for a minute before she pulls away and reaches into the pocket of the sweatpants. I look at her lips as she says, "You need these right?" I look at her hand and pale. My hearing aids are in her hand. I close my eyes and nod. When I open them, she looks slightly angry but she mouths, "How do I put them in?"

I explain and she follows my instructions. "Hello Sir." JARVIS says into my ear, and I breath a sigh of relief. I can hear again.

"Tony." Pepper says and I look at her. "Clearly we have some things to talk about." I nod. "Are you going to start? Or do you want me to?"

"Depends. Are you mad at me?" I ask.

Pepper takes a deep breath and says, "A little bit. But I am more disappointed then mad. And a couple other emotions, but we will address them later. The real question is, do you want to explain yourself, or be asked questions first?"

I pause thinking of the best way to respond. "Questions I guess." I mutter and Pepper sits in the seat next to my bed.

"Okay. Question number one, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

I blink, I was not expecting this question. "Well I am deaf." I say, knowing that she wasn't asking that.

"Perhaps I need to rephrase." Pepper says, slowly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There are a bunch of reasons for that." I say, stalling a bit.

"Mind offering some of those reasons?" She asks. Yes she is mad.

"Um. I didn't want to worry you. I-"

She cuts me off right there, "Tony Stark. What do you think worries me more, you flat out telling me what is wrong, or having to guess because you never freaking tell me?"

I never thought of it that way. I freeze looking at her face. "I dunno." is my genius response.

"I will ask you one last time. Why didn't you tell me Tony." Pepper asks. I look into her eyes and I know she knows why.

"You know why."

"Yes I do. But I want to hear you say it."

"I was scared." I say quietly.

"And why were you scared?"

"Because I thought it would make people see me as being weak. I thought it would affect-"

"The way I thought of you? Damn it Tony! For a genius you can REALLY be stupid at times. I will always love you Tony Stark no matter what happens."

"I am honestly surprise that you haven't slapped my face yet." I mutter quietly, cutting her off.

She glares at me before saying, "If you weren't so badly hurt already, I could hurt you even more. Trust me, you are in trouble. You are not allowed into the lab for more than three hours for the next six months."

"But Pep-"

"Don't you 'but Pepper' me" She snaps. Her face than softens an she goes back to the point she was making before, "Tony, no one will see you as weak. If you had told me flat out, I would have been able to help you."

"I was fine." I mutter.

"REALLY Tony? Because according to Bruce, Natasha, and Steve, all of the recent times you have gotten hurt is because of your deafness."

"I was managing."

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I tried a couple of times, but then I decided on our vacation."

"Was there something else you were planning on doing on that vacation?"

"Yes..." I say slowly. How did she find out.

"Because when I sent Bruce to get me some clothes from the house, he brought me some of your clothes too, for when you leave this place. He came upon this." Pepper mutters pulling out a black box, big enough to fit a ring.

"He brought it here to you?" I ask, outraged.

"The doctors weren't too sure that you were going to make it at the time. He figured that me knowing about this would help a bit."

I calm down a but, appreciating his reasoning. "Did it help?"

"Honestly, it just made it worse. Because if you did die, you would have never been able to ask me you-" Her voice is starting to crack and tears are forming in her eyes, so I cut her off.

"They say it is the thought that counts."

Pepper throws me a dirty look.

"What would you have said?" I ask.

"Said at what?" She asks, thinking I am talking about my death. "If you died? I would probably-"

"Not if I died Pepper." I say, reaching out through the pain to grab the box, I open it and say, "What would you have said if I asked you to marry me?"

"I would have said yes."

* * *

 **Thanks so much for reading my fan fiction!** **This was my first Avenger fan fiction and only my second fan fiction. I am thinking of writing more soon. What do you guys think? Please leave a review on this story and let me know if you would like me to write another Avenger fan fiction.**

 **Thanks again for reading,**

 **-Giraffezmd**

 **REVIEW?**


End file.
